Peaky Minders: how a GQ article about male suicide helped inspire a gruelling 800 mile cycle ride around the UK

Still watching Peaky Blinders? Fair enough. But something far more exciting is happening across Britain this week. A small but determined team of men and women are persevering with the challenge of a lifetime, all in a bid to raise £50,000 for two mental health charities, Heads Together and The 410 Foundation. Time to switch off the TV and put your money where their metal is...

I wasn’t supposed to be here this week. I was supposed to be with my godfather, a fine man called David Walker, who called around three months ago to say, “I’m doing this charity thing in September... And I’d love you to be a part of it. Busy?” Being family not only did I have to take his call but I had to respond with positive (but noncommittal) murmurings – right? Right.

Peaky Minders: four peaks, over 750 miles, all in 12 days.

At first, I declined. I mean, charity? Still, he persisted. Although David and I aren’t as close geographically as perhaps we could be – he lives in Nottingham, I live ten minutes north of Chalk Farm – throughout my years he’s always struck me as man whose wisdom and ability to hold life’s metaphorical rudder would be well worth my attention. So, I listened again. Harder. We met in London a week after that first phone call and he told me about his plans to raise £50,000 for two mental health charities by embarking on an adventure that, I have to say, initially struck me as completely bonkers.

He was doing it with a man called Tony Westbrook; they were calling it Peaky Minders. The plan was to climb four of Britain’s highest peaks and cycle the distance between them – that’s around 750 miles or, in layman's terms, a really long way – all in under two weeks. (The name, if you haven’t worked it out yet, is a sharp piece of wordplay on the challenge ahead. Get it?) I told David that, although it sounded utterly picturesque – the route would start in Fort William at the base of Ben Nevis, the team's first of four peaks – there was no way that I could fit this into my really very busy work-life schedule.

I had GQ’s Men Of The Year Awards to organise. I had big famous rappers such as Dave to interview. I had suit fittings. I had social media to stare blankly at. I had two daughters who needed their taxi service to be running smoothly at weekends. More significantly I had no waterproof trousers – I mean, who does, apart from maybe Channel 4 News’ Jon Snow? – nor any cycle lights (although I have always secretly converted some from Lezyne). It was around this point in my spluttering protestations that I began to sense David’s scepticism about my inability to sign on for the ride...

Peaky Minders: the team head for the summit at Ben Nevis.

My godfather then told me something that really hit home. He told me that part of the reason for doing this was to honour the memory of my mother’s late sister, Fiona, a woman about whom I had written extensively earlier this year in long read for GQ. (You can read it here.) Fiona died when I was around eight years old. She jumped off the cliff edge near Bristol suspension bridge, close to where she lived more than 30 years ago. My mother was devastated at the time, of course, although it wasn’t until this year – influenced by Orlando von Einsiedel’s moving film Evelyn, now available on Netflix – that I convinced her to sit down and talk to me about Fiona properly for the first time. David too knew Fiona well and was heartbroken at how her life had ended so suddenly. As a doctor, he felt an urge to ask if not so much why then how one could stop this sort of thing from happening again.

As David reminded me when met – discussing raising funds and his madcap but throughly worthwhile expedition – talking is often the first step to breaking a cycle of silence, not least across generations and although there was no specific thing my mother and I wanted out of the process, we both felt that the world seemed a little clearer, a little lighter, for having taken the opportunity to talk to one another about a difficult subject.

Peaky Minders: David Walker persevering ever upwards

Tony Westbrook's story was just as inspiring; the man is the engine behind the Peaky Minders challenge. As a consultant hip and knee surgeon at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust – where he met David – Tony met and dealt with patients day in day out that faced innumerable physical and mental health battles. Tony was part of the surgical team that treated Billy Monger, the hugely talented F4 racing driver who, aged 17, had a life-changing crash at Donington Park that led to him having both legs amputated. "Billy was living his dream when unfortunately he sustained the most horrific injuries," Tony explains. "To see a young man with life threatening injuries was heartbreaking for all. But [Billy] had this incredible belief that he would overcome his disability and drive again."

Both David and Tony's stories, and their conviction to help others, convinced me. Long story short, I signed up for Peaky Minders, although about a week prior to setting forth (late August) my immediate family itself was struck by some difficult personal issues surrounding, ironically enough, mental health. It was with a deep sense of regret, although quite rightly, that I had to cancel my trip to Scotland to join the Peaky Minders team, something that will stay with me for some time.

Peaky Minders: Ben Nevis conquered and the flag flying.

Still, I might be sitting here in the warm glow of a computer screen, but David, Tony and their band of peak-climbing, pedal-pushing mental health advocates are out there in weather that can only be described as “biblical". By the time this story is published they will have scaled Ben Nevis, cycled from Benderloch to Dunoon, hopped on the ferry from Dunoon to Greenock then cycled to Dumfries, pedalled to Keswick, charged head-first up Scafell Pike, somehow managed to scoot to Preston, popped into Llandudno, tackled (and conquered) Snowdon and very probably already be well on their way to Tulfarris in Ireland. The Peaky Minders heroes plan to complete their quest by summiting Carrauntoohil on 18 September. And you thought switching off your snooze button in the morning was difficult...

Peaky Minders: riding the good ride

Two days ago, I received this message from David on WhatsApp: "Jonathan, thanks for your ongoing interest. The team spirit is really strong. Climbing Ben Nevis in brilliant sunshine, cycling to Dunoon in good weather, but then we encountered massive rainstorms and a 105-mile challenge through the borders. Despite the setbacks all triumphed in their own way. The mental health issues continue to be discussed. We've talked about problems such as Asperger's syndrome for children and young people. One of the rider's daughters has cerebral palsy and is an international 100m Paralympic gold medal champion... We have talked about addiction, alcohol and family issues. All in all, it is a great team effort."

Peaky Minders: the second summit conquered

Feeling motivated? You should be. What David, Tony and the entire Peaky Minders crew have done – not to mention Gill and the rest of their dedicated support team, providing food, water and encouragement – is nothing short of miraculous and they are well on their way to reaching the £50,000 funding target. But they still need your help. Follow the link, offer your words of support on social media, sponsor them and think about your own personal mental health mountains you might climb. Dig deep and you too could pull a peaky blinder.